Mongol tribe that supported the Il-Khan Hülegü's
rise to power and eventually provided the successors to the
Il-Khan dynasty as rulers of Iraq and Azerbaijan.
A Jalayirid dynasty made its capital at Baghdad
(1336-1432).

Hasan Buzurg, founder of the dynasty, had
served as governor of Anatolia (Rum) under the
Il-Khan Abu Sa'id (reigned 1317-35). Following
the death of Abu Sa'id, Hasan Buzurg
competed for real control of the empire with his rival, the Chupanid
amir Hasan Kücük ("the Small," so
designated to distinguish him from Hasan Buzurg,
"the Great"); they set up rival khanates. Soon
afterward the empire broke down into local dynasties in Anatolia,
Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
and Armenia.

Hasan Buzurg had, meanwhile, established his
line in Baghdad, from which he conducted his
agitation against the Chupanids. His son The
most prominent of the Jalayirids, Sheikh Uways
(1356-74) finally wrested control of Azerbaijan
from the Süldüz Chupanids in 1360, creating a polity based on
Arabian Iraq and Azerbaijan. He enlarged Jalayirid domains by
seizing Azerbaijan (1360) and placing the Mozaffarid
principality of Fars under his suzerainty
(1361-64). In addition to this and other military exploits, he
fostered trade and commerce and won renown as patron of poetry,
painting, and calligraphy. He also undertook a number of
architectural projects in Baghdad.

The dynasty, however, was beset by the westward migrations and
invasions of various Turkic and Mongol
tribes. The khans of the Golden Horde,
successors of Batu, unsuccessfully attempted the
conquest of Azerbaijan in 1356-59. The later Jalayirids,
however, dissipated their energies in fruitless foreign
adventures and fratricidal struggles.

During the reign of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir
(1382-1410), Timur (Timur Barlas, or Tamerlane),
a new conqueror from Central Asia, took Baghdad
and Tikrit in 1393. Forcing Sultan Ahmad
to leave Baghdad and seek the protection of the Mamluks
of Egypt until Timur's death in
1405. Although Sultan Ahmad was able to reoccupy
his capital briefly, Timur again besieged and
sacked Baghdad in 1401, dealing it a blow from
which it did not recover until modern times.

Timurid administration in Arabian Iraq, first
under Timur and later under his grandson Abu
Bakr, was sporadic and short-lived: they controlled the
area during the years 1393-94, 1401-02, and 1403-05. After Timur's
death, Sultan Ahmad Jalayir regained Baghdad
for a time, but in 1410 he was killed in a dispute with his
former ally, Kara Yusuf (1389-1420), chief of
the Kara Koyunlu (Black Sheep) Turkmen
tribal confederation from eastern Anatolia, who
had just driven the Timurids out of Azerbaijan.
The remnants of the Jalayirid dynasty were
pushed south to Al-Hillah, Wasit,
and Basra. They were finally extinguished by the
Kara Koyunlu in 1432.